A mountain looms little ways away from the sparkling coast. In it, the Explorer’s Guild has carved out its headquarters. Colorful banners flutter around the Guild’s entrance (which faced towards the interior, not the beach) at the base of the mountain, proudly announcing to all who resides here.

~*~

Four figures huddle around a square stone table, hunched over, torchlight playing on their silhouettes. A map of Rea lies on the table; dots and x’s are scattered about it. Some thick old tomes, taken from the sizeable bookcases that line the periphery of the room, lay open.

The room is quite comfortable. It is about ten feet tall, ten feet long, and twenty feet wide. The table is in the middle of the room; to its right, is a small but deep pond about five feet across (the pond feeds into a deeper stream within the mountain which form a path for aquatic guildmembers). At the north end of the room, opposite the door, is a semicircular wooden platform adorned with a simple rectangular mat.

The bright-white Ninetales breaks the silence. “So, Serra, the sightings thus far have concentrated mostly in Ayuma, you say?”

The Decidueye answers. “Yes, Guildmaster. Taineh has the next most accounts, followed by Cozte. Merrim, for the time being, has been mostly safe.”

“Serra, none of the other members are here. You can call me by name.”

“Yes, Guildmaster- er, Auramah.”

The Guildmaster rolls her eyes playfully, and the bird lets out an awkward chuckle. The Incineroar opposite Serra absentmindedly taps at the drawing of Ayuma. His face is somber with consternation.

“This is worrying. If this is the invasion the ancient texts predict, Ayuma is a hell of a place to start. If they somehow manage to harness the incredible energy that lies in the island, we’re done for.” He carefully leafed through the aged book, stopping on an illustration of an odd Tentacruel-like creature. He shakes his head. “Poison and Rock? Never in my years of study have I come across such a typing. Good Arceus above, this is simply preposterous!“

Now, the Primarina perks up. She sits on an ice floe; the Ninetales had earlier frozen a small patch of the pond to serve as a seat. “Now, now, Axel, you know we can’t afford to rule anything out. Any information we have is precious, no matter how improbable it seems.” She clears her throat. “Besides the spiritual significance of the place, Ayuma is a remarkably strategic place to invade. Not many Pokémon live there, and they pose little to no resistance…” She gulps when she realizes the significance of her statement.

Axel smirks, his fangs glinting. “I’m glad we finally see eye to eye, Reena. I suggest we mobilize immediately to cut them off.”

“No,” Auramah says. “We have no clue what we’re up against. You have read the grueling efforts the ancients undertook during the first invasion. The gods themselves were called down to Rea to help defeat the onslaught.” For a moment, she loses herself in her thoughts. What would she do? Is it really her responsibility to save the world?

‘‘Um, G- Auramah?” Serra says. The Ninetales snaps back to reality.

“Oh! I am terribly sorry for that short lapse. Anyways, onto more mundane matters. Have the recruitment posters been hung up? Few of the reconnaissance teams we sent out to investigate these creature reports have come back. Any single able body we can get, we take. Go to town and see if there’s any new faces. They could be recruits coming to the guild. If not, well, try and convince them.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the other three say in unison. They leave the room to do their duties.

Once they left, Auramah let her weariness and worry wash over her. What was she going to do? Shaking, she goes up to a book, turns a page, and reads to calm herself down.